Toes
by sankontesu
Summary: Inuyasha goes running around the forest with his firstborn. Three-part Oneshot/InuKag
1. Toes

_And so it starts…_

A/N: I posted a thing earlier, imagining Inuyasha skirting around the forest with his son in a baby sling, and I just can't get the idea out of my head. But I chickened out and wrote the part _before_ the main part, so maybe I'll gather the courage to finish it. I like the idea of seeing things pseudo through their son's perspective so I'm trying it out. Not sure if I'll be keeping it for the next part. We'll see. Hope you enjoy this 546 word pre-drabble leading into yet another drabble.

 _ **Summary**_ _: Mama and Papa were arguing about something, but they were large-sized people so he didn't really pay mind to it. He just wanted his toes._

 _Rated: K_

 **Toes**

Mama and Papa were whispering at each other in the strange aggressive way they sometimes do when they throw glares, but Kenta just practiced lifting his foot into his mouth. He was almost there, with his arms outstretched, ready to catch his tiny toes for a taste. The mashed, messy green stuff Mama tried feeding him was always the same nasty flavor, and more often than not, ended up on him rather than _in_ him, but his toes…they would be an explosion of new sensations against his tongue, he just _knew_ it.

"He could fall and die."

"First of all, if he did fall he wouldn't die," Mama's eyes grew into saucers, "Secondly! I wouldn't _let_ him fall, and you know that." Papa said quickly before her eyes could get any more comically larger.

"Kenta's a _baby_."

"Yeah and I'm his _father."_

Mama looked a little at her ends as she shot a worried glance at her baby and gently swatted his legs back down when they were centimeters away from his puckered lips, "He's hungry." She stated, almost as an afterthought.

Papa sighed and handed Kenta back to Mama as she cuddled him close to her chest where he rooted around for her source of the milk goods. "Oh no sweetheart, you're getting so good at eating the peas, and Mama's running low right now…"

Kenta tried his hand at squeezing one of the large squishy balls under her neck but his Mama dislodged his strong grip and set him down in the chair Papa made for him. The green glob of what his Mama had designated as nutritional substance wobbled in front of him and Kenta squealed a low-pitched baby cry, _no_ he wasn't hungry for this. He wasn't hungry at all! He wanted his damn feet was all.

"Kenta, please," his Mama lifted a spoon into his mouth but he just attempted to slap it out of her hands. She released a stressed out rush of air and rested her head on her hand, starring at his scrunched up face. "Should I let you go with Papa?"

Kenta crowed with his throaty voice, slapping at the table in front of him with two sticky hands and ears wiggling like mad.

Mama relented with the food and after a few more minutes of maneuvering and babbling to her about how he was trying earnestly to reach his toes, he was picked up from the chair and brought out into the open air of the outside with his Mama cooing in his ear telling him that he better be careful. _Be careful for what?_ His Papa was standing outside with his hands on his hips, back to them; face to the clouds and sun. Looking cool, as usual.

"Okay, but you have to promise me you won't go too fast and you'll be back before sundown," His Mama let Papa hold him while she quickly ran back into the house and returned with a burlap sack lined with the soft satiny thing he loved to rub his face on. Mama always put Kenta in it when they were going out to the food place outside their home. He didn't like the food place too much because everything was always too far for him to reach and grab and thrust into his mouth, _plus_ the two medium sized girls that he couldn't tell apart, always hung around him and pulled at his ears smiling like sinister demons when Mama wasn't paying attention. Not only that but little flying dots liked to linger around him so Mama often had to cover his face with an annoying net. Nets on your face are not fun. Kenta started to protest by struggling in his grasp but his father's comforting touch on his head made him stop. Mama hoisted the sack over Papa's neck and lingered on the colorful beads that hung around it. Before she could take back her approval, she kissed both their cheeks and strapped Kenta onto his Papa's stomach.

"Be safe." Mama demanded.

Papa flashed Mama a smirk, "You know we will."

And then Kenta was off, travelling to the place that smelled like Papa.


	2. The First Time

_Summary: Continuation of_ _Toes_ _, somewhat. Inuyasha and his son in the forest for the first time._

 _Rated: K_

 _ **The First Time**_

In the beginning, Papa's arms were around him, mistrusting of the pouch.

Kenta bounced, snug in his sling as he opened his eyes and for the first time in his life, really felt what it was like to _see_. The greenery around him was so overwhelmingly full of life and color, that he threw his head back and giggled a hoarse baby laugh with glee, squinting his eyes up to catch a glimpse of the man above smiling back down at him.

"You ready, little man?" He asked, crouching down low enough for the baby's legs to jostle against the forest floor. Kenta couldn't tell what was happening but the anticipation was making it even harder for him to control the flailing of his arms and his dewy clawed fingers finally made purchase with the bigger man's red sleeves, a garbled grunt coming out of his mouth in reply.

And without further notice, Kenta was in the air. The rush of the wind tickled against his silver ears, and all he could hear for a few fleeting moments was the breeze as it curled up against his lobes and kissed his chubby cheeks, the smell of the leaves all around him, the shadow of his father beneath them-

And then it was over and everything was back to stillness, his hair sticking up and frazzled like a white nimbus. Papa peered down with large yellow eyes, questioning, waiting, _worrying_.

A deep resonating laugh ripped itself from Kenta's lungs, ringing all throughout the forest, causing a multitude of birds to unfurl their raven wings to take flight. The baby kicked his legs while simultaneously babbling at an excitable rate, trying to convey his inner joy. His Papa's smile was so big it pushed his cheeks into eyes, and it didn't take him but a second longer to join in on his son's laughter.

"Alright then," And then he launched.

Kenta didn't know what was really happening yet, he only knew that some creatures stayed stuck in the air the same way he normally stayed stuck to his parent's sides, and that now he was one of those creatures. He was racing through the sky, the sun and his Papa and him.

The arms around his middle eventually unwrapped and Kenta's limbs reached out all angles to catch the wind, the trees, the clouds, the birds. _Everything._ Nothing ever actually made connection with his open palms, but it made no difference to him.

Kenta was so happy.

Eventually his Papa slowed down and they were just running quickly on the ground's surface. He would make smooth turns which would eventually turn into sharp ones. He would reach up with his strong hand and lift them into an overseeing tree to take perch among the canopy. A small bushy-tailed animal would brave outside her home to peer at the couple and the baby's sharp eyesight caught her instantly, uncurling his fist and making grabbing motions. He was just starting to figure out things by putting them in his mouth, and he wanted to figure out that furry thing.

"I don't think so," His Papa's rumbling voice vibrated through his body and Kenta began fussing and pinching up his nose but one large calming hand came to his head and he quieted almost instantly. Kenta felt a sense of security and peace and stilled, blinking slowly, furry creature forgotten.

His Papa's sigh ruffled the twisted hairs on Kenta's forehead and said nothing. Papa was quiet and Kenta parroted his silence. He felt the soothing pull of his father's heartbeat steadily beating behind him- _dun-duhn…dun..-duhn…_ the cool breeze under the hot son lulling him into a half-enchanted sleep.

Kenta had no sense of time yet, sometimes he would wake up and it was sunlight, sometimes he would wake up with the moon. But being with Papa felt like time could never exist again. The image of his Mama appeared slowly in his mind and he puckered his mouth, a whine teasing just past his lips.

"You thinkin about Mama?"

At the verbal mention of her name Kenta let his garbled language fall from his tongue in enthusiastic chattering. Papa chuckled at him and lifted his finger, nudging it between Kenta's lips, offering it to him in temporary relief. He latched on instantly, sucking and peering around him still.

"Me too, son."

Papa slowly came down from the treetops to land silently on the forest floor again. Kenta's ears then perked up and he let go of his father's finger.

"You hear that?" He asked quietly.

Creatures were bristling through the underfoot, the smell of the humidity in the air sank into their pores, the trees gently swaying in the wind, a large fluffy bird sleeping in the distance, wings flapping right above them as a dark spot swooped in over their heads, the murmur of the water. The sun was hiding behind them but it was going away it seemed, because with each passing blink new shadows were being born, dark patches honing in around them.

A gentle hand came up behind Kenta's ears and scratched them, his eye-lids grew heavy. Mama tried scratching his ears sometimes, and she did a good enough job, but Papa knew the secret to it. When he stopped out of nowhere Kenta twisted his head back up, trying to tell him he was ready for more scratches but that's when he saw a look on his face he had never seen before. Kenta couldn't understand it but the sight of a tear drop trailing down his cheek shocked him into silence. Papa called out to him in a quavering voice,

"This is where I grew up, little man."

Papa's footsteps crinkled the leaves beneath his feet and he moved forward as he maneuvered a branch out of their way. With a flash of white and yellow, Kenta's interest piqued once again, his eyes focusing on a trail of bright flowers that's petals were being tossed around by the wind. A large stone stuck out in the middle of the expanse of greenery that was low to the ground, with scars on it. It was nice out here. It was pretty. Kenta's head titled, curious.

"And this is grandma."


	3. The Last Time

**A/N: I knew I was going to write this even before I finished writing "** _ **The First Time**_ **," so I'm sorry. Obviously I listened to a lot piano carried songs, such as "See You Again," by Wiz Khalifa. Kenta's grown, ya'll. Don't act like you don't know what happens. Inuyasha's an even grumpier grouch at old age than he was when he was before.** _ **2000 words, I know, a lot longer than my usual drabbles.**_

 _Summary: Linked to_ _Toes_ _and_ _The First Time_ _. Inuyasha and his son running through the forest for the last time._

 _Rated: T_

 _ **The Last Time**_

When Kenta finally found him, his father was leaned against the engraved stone, his eyes closed, his ears relaxed, his open palms at the sides of him, and his knees bent with his legs in a butterfly style. The rich space of greenery held the sun like a spotlight and Kenta stopped just at the brink, surveying the scene in front of him.

The quarter-demon held his breath, his heart wildly beating out of his chest, the thunder of his pulse echoing in his ears. His father looked peaceful. Too peaceful. The type of peaceful that only death invites.

And before he could catch it, a whine bubbled in his throat, creeping past his lips, mimicking the sound that the blunt side of a musket makes when it's being dragged against stone. Unavoidable to acute hearing. Two cloudy golden eyes met their mirror and Kenta blew a huge sigh of relief.

"I'm not dead yet, you idiot." He scoffed, a weary, scratchy cough following it.

Kenta leaned one elbow against the bark at his side, dislodging a singing lark with the tremble that he caused by putting more weight than necessary on the trunk. He wouldn't admit it, but it probably had something to do with the fact that he was dizzy and trying to stabilize himself.

"So don't start paying your respects yet," His father continues, stopping to take a breath every word or so. Kenta gnawed at his lips. His father had been like this for the past decade, but not enough time would ever go by to make his son accustomed to watching his father wither away like a common village man. His father had defeated demons for a living, saved countless lives, and was married to his mother for nearly 60 years. And being married to his mother made the previous two factors look like child's play in comparison. Kenta's cocked eyebrow smoothed down, softening the rest of his face at the reminder of his Mama.

"Who said I came to pay my respects to you, old man?" Kenta chided, running a clawed hand through his hair but stopped halfway, the thinning white hair sticking through his fingers. A scowl replaced his lop-sided grin at the recollection of his receding hair line, a lasting token from his mother's side of the family. His father's hair though of course, still a tough mane of gorgeous silver white strands. Like both his aging sisters. Bastards. All three of them.

His father had a speculative look on his face as if he was debating whether or not he should get up, but even as Kenta moved away from the tree and closer to the two stone markers, he didn't so much as blink from his spot on the ground.

Kenta kneeled down in front of his mother's grave and clapped his liver-spotted hands together, closing his eyes in prayer.

 _Ma, I have some questions. Did you know the men in your family have a balding problem? And if so, why is it that in all those years of Kaede-obasan gibbering in your ear about herbs and shrubs and curing almost every village from the west to the east coast of Japan, you were incapable of providing your only good-looking son with the remedy to said balding problem. Secondly, do you have any idea how much I miss you down here? Pa won't say it, but he misses you too. I'm not speaking for Kaede or Kameko, they can come make the long journey on their own damn feet to tell you themselves._

Kenta finished his prayer with a murmur of love and then hit his forehead gently against the flowery floor in front of him. The lilies never seemed to die around here, and the pollen scent tickled his nostrils.

"What about grandma?" His father's raspy voice admonished.

Kenta squinted, "She still probably hasn't forgiven me for not having any daughters."

The half-demon nodded in understanding. "She might still be bitter about something like that," he agreed.

But Kenta turned to the other tombstone nonetheless and flashed a sheepish smile, a smile that echoed of a smirk in the past that would have any village girl, single or married, falling over themselves, if only in attempts to be the reason for that devilish grin. Clapping his clawed hands together once more he prayed.

 _Grandma, I know I never met you, but nonetheless I promised you I would name one of my girls Izayoi, if you would only watch over them, but as it seems you've been watching over them anyway, despite the fact they were all born boys…not named Izayoi…Hope you're keeping Mama company. Not that she already doesn't have Aunt Sango and Uncle Miroku, but one's probably beating up the other for hitting on a celestial maid or something. And then there's always good ol' Kaede-obasan but she's probably still sleeping._

Kenta heaved out a shaky breath and shut his eyes tight before the tears welled up too much and started falling or something. Of course doing this always made the sadness of it all crash into him like a solid Koga-kick to his chest, so he held them closed even tighter.

"Stop crying, you baby."

"Do you see this balding head?" Kenta wiggled his dog ears for emphasis, "I ain't no baby, old man, although you look like you're about to go back to crawling."

"And I'd still leave your ass in the dust." He countered.

Kenta rolled his eyes, the very image of his mother, "I'm not about to make a liar out of you…again."

"I tripped that time. Didn't count."

"You tripped over _what_ this time? Last time it was a toad, and the time before that you said it was a deer that had jumped into your vision. All of these trips, somehow taking place during that _one_ race we had. I'm taking notes."

His father scratched the side of his head, yawning, "Don't you have something better to do? Grandkids to tell riveting tales of their great-grandfather to?"

"Yes, I actually just got back from telling them how you nearly lost your leg dodging a toad while trying to retain your honor." Kenta was never fast enough to dodge his quick movements, even after 65 years of weaving and ducking and sliding with this man, he still always managed to catch him. A thin wrinkled hand stuck out and pulled sharply at Kenta's furry ear, and he gave a high shriek.

"Owowowowowowwwwwwww!"

His father smirked at him. One would assume that owning a pair of sensitive dog ears himself, he would take it easy on his kids. Especially when he himself would be abused in just this matter growing up with Sango, Miroku, and Kagome, but _one_ would _underestimate_ his father's desire to have someone join in on his misery.

Kenta managed to squirm his way out of it and rubbed tenderly at the offended ear, the sound of his father's cackling muted by the trauma.

"I'm fucking 65 years old." Kenta grumbled.

"Yeah, and thanks to me, you look about 40."

They share a laugh, and right there as the familiar sound of flapping wings swoops over them, Kenta decides on something. He nears his father and puts a firm hand on his red clothed shoulder, determined.

"You wanna go catch the sun?" He asks with a twinkle in his eyes, that handsome quirk of his mouth crossing his perfect bow shaped lips. He was pulling the " _can't deny Kenta anything,"_ face and his father knew it well. The face his wife would give him if she were still…

"What?" His father gives him a cross-eyed look, slightly confused, slightly offended. He normally asked Kenta that question back when he was a kid. It was how they would start their treks around the forest. The boy had coined the term, 'catching the sun', and his father had adopted it ever since. "I'm sorry to break it to you boy, but I can't feel my legs right now." A fit of retched coughing followed.

Kenta looked down at the aforementioned limbs forlornly and swallowed, "I know."

This would happen sometimes. It was probably why his father was still out here, perhaps since early this morning. Since before the sun had even touched ground. His youngest sister was stopping by every day to force medicine down his stubborn mouth, but every now and then he woke up early enough to dodge her attacks. Sometimes not even the medicine helped though.

Kenta hated it.

It hurt, to know his father was in this type of state and pain. It caused him unbearable regret for not being able to be there to help when the demon had injected him with the subsequent venom a few years back, bringing on the paralyzing episodes. He had been visiting his sister Kaede downtown, whom after mother passed, found her grief reconciliation in traveling the world. They hadn't had an attack in years, but of course the one time Kenta disappeared, his father would have to stand to defend and get knocked around by a stupid spitting viper demon, his legs rendered unusable after a few hours of the poison sinking into them.

He swiftly gave his back to his father, crouching on his toes and lifted heel, "Let's go on a ride, old man."

At first there was awkward silence, his son momentarily worried that his father would reject him. Even after all these years, his father's approval was always paramount.

But then he felt a set of weak arms encircle his neck and pull him closer to his father's comforting scent. He smelled of pines and wood. Of sun and sky.

When he was a kid he told his friends that his father didn't smell like the forest, rather _the forest smelled like him._ And it filled his heart with a strange sense of pride when his wife, then just a single village girl, whispered conspiringly in his ears that he _smelled like the trees and rivers._

Kenta lifted a bit off the ground to adjust his father's legs around his back, feeling their dead weight as he clasped his hands behind him.

He straightened up and asked his father if he was okay. With a nod against his back, he launched.

And then they're racing through the sky. A comet through the clouds, an arrow through the trees. Both their ears were perked, taking it all in, the sounds of the animals, the babbling of the river, the gentle fall and rise of the winds moving through the currents.

They were alive.

Just as they are nearing the crest of a hill that lead into the edge of the forest, Kenta hears it, all his other senses falling silent.

The sluggish beating of his father's heart was growing weaker and taking pause and something slow and steady that's been creeping up on him for the better part of the last few years is settling deep into his chest. Kenta turned slowly around and held the fastened knot of his hands closer to his back, voluntarily pulling his father closer to him.

This was goodbye.

"Papa," He starts, the affectionate name causing a constricting reaction on his throat, but then he's chewing on his lips again, unable to say it. As if saying it would make it real, make it happen. Make him stay longer. _Keep him with me._

"P-pa-pa, you're fine," He finds himself saying through unrelenting tears that he just noticed were finally falling. Probably falling all this time since he started this final ride with his father. He clears his throat but there's nothing he can do to mask the outpouring desperation in his voice as he speaks, "You have more demon blood than any of us, you're supposed to last a lot longer. And you know how good Kameko is with herbs, she's planning on giving you something for that cough. You're going to be fine." The last syllable sounds pathetic and high but he can't help it. He doesn't care.

His Papa's hands on his shoulders gave one last squeeze and the breeze picked up, ruffling their silver hair and the fur on both their ears, the same way it did when they were out here, just the two of them, for the first time.

The sun sinking into the mountains, the sparkle of the river below them growing thin. Something ancient and warm coursed through the both of them. The ringing of the birds calling their young to their nests, the humidity in the air falling over them like a comfortable blanket.

"Give Mama a kiss for me, would ya?" Kenta struggled to say between a sad, defeated smile.

The half-demon on his back sneered and silently reminded, "I have my own tax to collect first if you don't mind, you brat."

Kenta trembled, the attempt at humor failing at consoling him. He was nowhere near ready for this. He didn't know what he was thinking. He was saying goodbye to his _best friend, his defender, his creato_ r-Papa placed a single gentle kiss on the back of his head, between his ears and Kenta stilled, his thoughts growing quiet, his eyes widening into glistening crystals.

"I love you, son."

Kenta was 65, but he was sobbing like a newborn, hiccuping, gritting his teeth, unable to stand, he fell to his knees.

"I love you too, Papa."

And there at the edge of Inuyasha's Forest, overlooking the village holding his long outstanding legacy, -full of beautiful creatures with golden eyes, silver hair, and fangs, much more than he could have ever _dreamed_ \- his Papa's weight instantly grew limp and the hold on his son's shoulders tumbled to his sides.

" _Till I see you again."_


	4. Extra

_**Read**_ __ _ **Toes**_ _ **,**_ __ _ **The First Time**_ _ **,**_ __ _ **The Last Time**_ _ **,**_

And then you can read this 150 worded fluff.

 _Summary: None needed, just read the previous three and then come back to this._

 _Rated: T_

 _ **Extra:**_

The first thing Kagome did when she saw him was rush him, tackling him and when he landed flat on his back-the ages peeling off him like dry skin- she pounded at his chest with her small fists.

"How could you just _leave_ him like that! You _insensitive_ , heartless-!"

And the first thing Inuyasha did after he starred at her beautiful scrunched up face, opening and closing her pouty lips in a rant, he reached tenderly for the back of her head and pushed her down for a kiss.

" _Woman_ ," He growled between kisses, "You have the nerve-" _kiss_ "-to start nagging me-" _kiss_ "so soon after death?"

She was giggling madly by the time his lips had found the nape of her neck but she was quick to remind him, "Don't think I've forgotten what you did to Kenta just now! That was not okay."

Inuyasha let the tip of his nose drag across the skin on her shoulder the way he knew made his wife shiver, "He'll get over it."

"Inuyasha!"

Their eyes made contact, honey melted into gold, and with a ridiculously conniving grin, acting as if he had been waiting for this moment for far too long, her husband opened his mouth and bellowed from the top of his lungs,

"KAGOME!"


End file.
